Understanding Christian White Rural America

[Kirran]

I came across this article, which I found to be quite interesting.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem

This sums up the general thrust of the article:

The real problem isn’t east coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is rural America doesn’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out.

I think the writer overplays the role of this voting bloc a little, but nevertheless I think has a good perspective. Obviously there's generalising, but that's what voting blocs are about. The demographic he's talking about does make up a very solid core to the Republican voting base.

Any opinions?

 

[Deidre]

I'm so tired of ''classes'' of people being blamed for where the US is right now. We're all responsible, honestly. We all can do better to improve ourselves, and I don't like pointing a judging finger at this demographic or that demographic because it's just another form of bigotry, if you ask me.

 

[Revoltingest]

Any opinions?

Alternet is the Breitbart of the left.

Hmmmm.....I take that back.
It's unfair to Breitbart.

 

[Sunstone]

I came across this article, which I found to be quite interesting.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem

This sums up the general thrust of the article:

I think the writer overplays the role of this voting bloc a little, but nevertheless I think has a good perspective. Obviously there's generalising, but that's what voting blocs are about. The demographic he's talking about does make up a very solid core to the Republican voting base.

Any opinions?

I've long had my suspicions that many Sanders and Trump supporters are alike in recognizing that the system -- the status quo -- is rigged against them. The main difference being that the Sanders supporters know how and why, while the Trump supporters don't know and don't care to know. Of course, I could be wrong about that. But that's been my guess for some time now.

 

[Neo Deist]

I came across this article, which I found to be quite interesting.

http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem

This sums up the general thrust of the article:

I think the writer overplays the role of this voting bloc a little, but nevertheless I think has a good perspective. Obviously there's generalising, but that's what voting blocs are about. The demographic he's talking about does make up a very solid core to the Republican voting base.

Any opinions?

In case you are not aware (and @Revoltingest touched on it), AlterNet is a left wing, liberal activist news outlet. Since the left just lost the election because of the middle and right, I doubt they have a clue as to WTF happened and why.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

From what I saw (I never attended a Trump rally), Trump was really just spouting off the vitriol that frustrated rural folk (and possible urban folks too, but I live in rural Maine, so this is just my experience) say when they see complexity in politics or they want to sound macho. I've heard these things all my life: "It's the immigrants taking all the jobs." "We should just nuke the Middle East." "Why should we have an option for Spanish on everything, this is America."

Seriously. Trump just took a bunch of vitriolic platitudes and put them on display in a reality show. I get that people saw in him someone different from the established system, but it still doesn't change the fact that Trump completely used the ignorance of these sayings to appeal to rural Americans (and mainstream media bought into it). Now, I am NOT calling rural Americans ignorant. I am a rural, white, American male. But let's face it, believing we can solve the problem of obsolete jobs disappearing by getting rid of immigrants and nuking the Middle East is certainly not coming from an informed viewpoint.

I do agree with Deidre that the blame-game isn't what we should be focusing on, but neither should we be silent on the outcomes of a campaign run on vitriolic platitudes.

 

[metis]

I equate these far right movements as being "societal temper-tantrums", and they are actually quite common historically in societies that are struggling with change, especially if the change involves a society in decline. These typically involve nativistic tendencies and polarization within society, and they almost never solve the problems that need to be solved.

If short-lived, the societies can survive and move on; but if long term, the societies can be severely damaged and continue in its decline. As with most empires, they often fall from within.

 

[MD]

I'm so tired of ''classes'' of people being blamed for where the US is right now. We're all responsible, honestly. We all can do better to improve ourselves, and I don't like pointing a judging finger at this demographic or that demographic because it's just another form of bigotry, if you ask me.

You are seeing the light

 

[Kirran]

I'm so tired of ''classes'' of people being blamed for where the US is right now. We're all responsible, honestly. We all can do better to improve ourselves, and I don't like pointing a judging finger at this demographic or that demographic because it's just another form of bigotry, if you ask me.

I don't really go for the blame politics so much either. If I'm honest, I didn't really find the article of interest due to how the subject matter related to the election (even though that's probably what inspired it being written). I just thought a look at a broad group of people with a very different way of thinking and looking at the world to my own was interesting.

Alternet is the Breitbart of the left.

I'll take your word for it, I have no reason to doubt it.

This particular article, however, doesn't advertise itself as anything other than anecdotal.

I've long had my suspicions that many Sanders and Trump supporters are alike in recognizing that the system -- the status quo -- is rigged against them. The main difference being that the Sanders supporters know how and why, while the Trump supporters don't know and don't care to know. Of course, I could be wrong about that. But that's been my guess for some time now.

That has reason to me. As a leftie foreigner.

Worth keeping in mind that the demographic described is really more of a solid Republican voting bloc than the group which won things for Trump. This rural white Christian bloc is basically a banked vote for a Republican candidate, but you need a much broader appeal to win an election. Working class urban whites seem to have been the ones to have shifted to Trump in large numbers, out of nativism, reactionary politics, a sense of lack of representation and so forth.

From what I saw (I never attended a Trump rally), Trump was really just spouting off the vitriol that frustrated rural folk (and possible urban folks too, but I live in rural Maine, so this is just my experience) say when they see complexity in politics or they want to sound macho. I've heard these things all my life: "It's the immigrants taking all the jobs." "We should just nuke the Middle East." "Why should we have an option for Spanish on everything, this is America."

Seriously. Trump just took a bunch of vitriolic platitudes and put them on display in a reality show. I get that people saw in him someone different from the established system, but it still doesn't change the fact that Trump completely used the ignorance of these sayings to appeal to rural Americans (and mainstream media bought into it). Now, I am NOT calling rural Americans ignorant. I am a rural, white, American male. But let's face it, believing we can solve the problem of obsolete jobs disappearing by getting rid of immigrants and nuking the Middle East is certainly not coming from an informed viewpoint.

I do agree with Deidre that the blame-game isn't what we should be focusing on, but neither should we be silent on the outcomes of a campaign run on vitriolic platitudes.

I am a rural, white, British male myself! Well, technically I'm not rural anymore, but I was for my first 18 years of life. And the whiteness is a little fuzzy, I don't know if I'd generally qualify as white in the US.

But yeah, what you're saying makes sense. This is the problem with democracy in an underinformed or malinformed population. But it's our best option, nevertheless!